Children have a right to sex education!

Locally I am the pariah...responsible for making statements only in this blog on the issue of sex education at our local high school. Statements that some people are in violent disagreement too.

When my daughter came home from school and told me that she was told you can get pregnant from pashing, I immediately went to work on researching the program being taught.

I did eventually speak informally to one of the women who delivered the program at school that day and it seems my daughter misheard it wasnt pashing that would get her pregnant but passion that could lead to pregnancy.

I have maintained throughout this debate that the problem lies in the material that is given to the children for them to further research. I also spoke to Dr Leslie Cannold about the issue and heres what she had to say. (if you want the full version click on the text to go to Dr Cannold's website)

Your children have a right to sex education. This right is a component of their sexual rights, themselves a subset of the human rights guaranteed to them in international laws, human rights documents and other consensus statements.


But don't cry out for joy or fly off the handle with rage just yet. Because whatever abstract entitlement our kids have to accurate, relevant and age-appropriate information about sex, relationships and reproduction in the classroom, most aren't getting any. Education, that is. They are getting plenty of sex, some of it unwanted, as well as sexually transmitted infections, unwanted pregnancies and, if they are same-sex attracted, a worrying dose of suicidal thoughts.

On the flip side to Dr Cannolds comments I thought I should show a sample of the information that is available on the Choices Decision Outcomes recommended link ..Gravity Teen, you should go visit this sight and look at the emotion laden messages that are clearly one sided and in my opinion designed to induce guilt.

Two nights later, it was still bothering me. My mom, dad, and I were out to dinner and in the middle of my parents' conversation, I blurted out "Mom, were you pregnant when you were 16?" She just looked at me with tears filling her eyes. She explained to me how she had an abortion, and as an eight-year-old, I could only imagine what it was. She said something about my sister, whom she had named Elizabeth, being in Heaven. At that moment it clicked for me that I had lost my sister.


Over the next three years, my mom became more active in the pro-life movement. She became the executive director of NOEL: The National Organization of Episcopalians for Life. I grasped the concept of what an abortion really was and got used to the fact that I was deprived of a sister I should've had. It was scary to know that my mom had killed someone that was so important to me.

When I turned 11, I was invited to speak at the Memorial Service for the Unborn as a sibling of an aborted child. I talked about how much I missed having an older sister and how I missed out on the little things, like watching her get ready for Prom or for her wedding. Spreading my experience of abortion was a big deal for me because it had been so much to overcome. Even though it wasn't me that had had the abortion, I felt bad and cried a lot about it.

Again you can click on the text for the full story and follow the tabs around the site- it makes for interesting reading. CDO doesn't appear to have anything to do with the site, but the fact remains that it is recommended to anyone who visits CDO.

Today's lesson: condoms in the classroom cause controversy

Sydney Morning Herald and ABC Radio today picked up on the issue of Choices Decisions Outcomes program delivering a message thats not compliant with NSW health.

the following was reported by Journalist Heath Gilmore

Today's lesson: condoms in the classroom cause controversyHEATH GILMORE


December 3, 2009


Picture from Q and A ... the Choices Decisions Outcomes’ website.





A PRIVATELY run sex education program operating in NSW public high schools questions the effectiveness of condoms for preventing HIV and other sexually transmitted infections.

Real Choices Australia operates the program, Choices Decisions Outcomes, mainly in government schools across Australia. One of its directors and spokeswoman, Debbie Garratt, has links to the Catholic Church and has worked with anti-abortion groups.

The program is used at Ulladulla High School. Teams are trying to promote it in the Newcastle, Kempsey, Macksville, Port Macquarie and Taree regions. On the Choices Decisions Outcomes' website, students are warned that condoms are not 100 per cent effective in stopping sexually transmitted infections. It highlights that children who engage in sexual activity are ''flirting with danger''.The website goes on to say there is ''no scientific evidence that condoms prevent the transmission of most sexually transmitted diseases''.

The NSW Greens MP John Kaye said the program compromised the State Government's public health strategy, which says the use of condoms during casual sexual encounters ''significantly'' reduced STI transmissions.

''The program is using subterfuge to infiltrate the classroom and indoctrinate young people with a minority viewpoint, putting their sexual health at risk,'' Dr Kaye said.

Ms Garratt said the program, which catered for the first four years of secondary schooling, encouraged adolescents to make healthy lifestyle choices regarding their sexuality as well as health and relationship issues.

Asked whether the website was designed to dissuade students from using condoms, she said some readers may have inferred the wrong meaning. ''The message is that condoms are not 100 per cent safe,'' she said. ''We don't promote abstinence as the preferred option.''

Nicholas Parkhill, the chief executive of ACON, formerly the AIDS Council of NSW, said questioning the effectiveness of condoms put the lives of young people at risk.
''It is very concerning to learn that groups are questioning the effectiveness of condoms in relation to the prevention of HIV and other STIs,'' Mr Parkhill said.

Ellie Freedman, medical education co-ordinator of Family Planning NSW, said scientific evidence existed that condoms prevented the transmission of most STIs. She said laboratory studies showed latex is impermeable to STIs.

''At Family Planning NSW we advise that consistent condom use is the most effective way of protecting against STIs,'' Dr Freedman said.

A spokesman for the Department of Education and Training said Real Choice Australia did not require departmental authorisation for its presentations, only approval from principals.

''Where an external speaker addresses students on a topic, the regular classroom teacher remains present to ensure the information is consistent with the curriculum,'' he said.

''Condom use is included as one of several options for minimising the risk of infection.''

Sex Education and the Fred Nile Group

The shocking discovery that my daughter participated in a sex education class that has links to the Fred Nile Group has led to some pretty interesting conversations over the last week.

It has also led me on an interesting journey around the Internet- trying to find more information, but I haven't been on my own.

When the beans first spilt, I contacted Dr Leslie Cannold a well known ethicist and campaigner for the rights of women to make informed decisions. I wanted to let Leslie know of the confusing identity that Choices Decisions Outcomes had created when linking itself to Real Choices Australia which has the same three letter acronym as Reproductive Choice Australia. Both organisations are diametrically opposed in regards to the rights of women to have an abortion.

Leslie pointed out to me that the organisation Federation of Pregnancy Support Services Inc which certifies the trainers (Ulladulla High School) is an umbrella organisation for the Right to Life groups that underwent scrutiny via the Federal Government Senate and had to make significant changes to its constitution to prove impartiality and gain federal government funding.

A cross party Private Members bill was introduced in 2006 to cut through the confusing state of pregnancy counselling services offered in Australia.

Senator's Natasha Stott Despoja, Judith Troeth, Carol Brown and Kerry Nettle introduced the Pregnancy Counselling (Truth in Advertising) Bill 2006. The Bill extended the widely accepted principle of transparency in advertising to pregnancy counselling services.

Sadly, anti-abortion services advertise in ways designed to mislead and confuse women. These services provide false information to women about the risks of abortion, and will not refer women to a termination service, even if they request it. The Bill draws a line in the sand when it comes too false advertising. It prohibits agencies that will not refer for abortion from disguising this fact in the ads they put in GPs surgeries, and in the Yellow and White Pages,

So three years later on we are still in a position of misleading information with the Choices Decisions Outcomes program being delivered to teens by the Right to Life followers with no choices given to parents in regards to participation. A position that has to change. Public schools should not be engaging in one-sided debate but remain secular and allow young people to thrive in a balanced environment. For religious schooling there are plenty of private school options available.